Tuscaloosa Councilwoman discusses crime after death of baby & teen in her district

Kandice Cabbil and Jalen Merriweather have both been killed in one part of Tuscaloosa in just two weeks. (Sources: WBRC Video/Facebook)

TUSCALOOSA COUNTY, AL (WBRC) -

After two young people, a high school student and a baby, have been killed in one part of Tuscaloosa in just two weeks, the councilwoman for the area is talking about her concerns regarding crime.

20-month-old Kandice Cabbil died in late January. Her father, Samuel Cabbil is charged with capital murder in her death. According to court documents, the little girl was shaken and thrown down while staying at Broadmoore Gardens Apartments, and later found unresponsive.

Friday, 18-year-old Holt High School student Jalen Merriweather was shot and killed at Broadmoore Gardens Apartments. Police say he was trying to protect his sister from being attacked by 48-year-old Donald Robertson. Robertson is wanted for murder.

Tuscaloosa City Council District 7 Councilwoman Sonya McKinstry says considering the circumstances of each case, she believes these cases could have happened anywhere. However, she does not want her district, which includes James Harrison Parkway and parts of Skyland Boulevard, to be perceived as the type of place where outsiders can go to commit crimes.

McKinstry says many recent instances of violence in her area have involved people who do not reside where the crimes happened.

McKinstry says people in other parts of town refuse to accept crime in their neighborhoods, and she wants her area to do the same. "We have got to get the mind frame in our community, in District 7, that we're not going to tolerate it," McKinstry said.

"You're not going to come and sell drugs in front of our kids, you're not going to be shooting off randomly, because we're not going to tolerate it."

McKinstry also asks residents of her district to call police at the first sign of a problem, as a way to prevent crime and violence before it happens.